


Library boy

by gulabjaem



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 13:39:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18779377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gulabjaem/pseuds/gulabjaem
Summary: A college nomin fic nobody asked for





	Library boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovetalkwoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovetalkwoo/gifts).



> Hey, this is my first au and it would not have been possible without these people:  
> nika, sami, kimpreet kult and miss carly, thank you so much for your support  
> yuyu, this one's for you, i cannot express how grateful i am

Jeno was fed up. If he read another word about operant conditioning, he would pass out. He would study later, he convinced himself and began stuffing his books in his bag. Besides, he rationalised as he glanced at the clock one last time, there was always the chance that Renjun had finished class five minutes early and would be already waiting for him in the canteen. And yet he took his time walking through the long aisle, sneakily eavesdropping on conversations so that they might have something to talk about at lunch and casually — very casually letting his eyes linger a second too long near the private study booths to see if anyone was making out. He blamed it on Renjun, he got him into the habit. Then, one of the students in the study booths looked up and Jeno almost had whiplash turning his head around so fast and suddenly he was locking eyes for a second too long with a boy sitting at the table in the far corner. He stood there rooted on the spot before the cutie looked away, laughing at something his friend said.

Jeno was still in somewhat of a daze when Renjun came running towards him and he almost didn’t hear him ask what Jeno wanted for lunch. But this was Renjun and Jeno knew better than to make him suspicious so he tried to forget about everything and just have a nice time with his friends.

Jeno was getting a milkshake for Jisung and he was racing time to get it to him before the bell rang that he almost missed him pass by. Or atleast, who he thought was him. Maybe Jeno was seeing things now. 

The third time Jeno saw him that day was while heading home. If Jeno hadn’t noticed how mesmerising he was earlier, he definitely noticed it now. He had the fluffiest dark brown hair parted at the side and his eyes, oh, his eyes, Jeno could get lost in them forever. But this was reality, and he didn’t know him, and Renjun was standing right beside him, and Jeno had got out of there as fast as he could.

 

Lee Jeno had a reputation to maintain. One of the college’s best volleyball players, he excelled at both academics and extracurriculars. When he wasn’t chatting with his friends, he was at the library studying. He wasn’t popular per se, but even then he received his fair share of confessions, all of which he rejected. This meant he fell perfectly into the ‘stone cold bitch stereotype but never bothered to correct people when they assumed him to be one. He didn’t have time for that. He had a strict schedule.

Unfortunately for his strict schedule, library boy, as Jeno called him, became a huge part of his everyday life after that. He was everywhere, the library, the corridors, the canteen, the basketball court - Jeno wondered how he hadn’t seen him before.Or maybe he just hadn’t noticed him that much before. Jeno made it a point to sit as close as possible to him during lunch and it felt so silly and so obsessive but Jeno couldn’t help it and-  
“Jeno? Jen? What are you looking at?” Renjun was waving his arms in an attempt to get his attention. Jisung was looking around. Jeno’s blood ran cold. This is it, I’m done for, he thought.  
“Nothing?” he helpfully supplied. Both looked unimpressed.  
“Okay, so see that guy sitting in the white shirt there? Well, I’ve just been seeing him around a lot these past couple of days and it’s funny how he seems to have just three shirts in his closet and how he alternates between them every single day. I’m just, you know, trying to keep a track of it.”  
Jeno was very surprised they bought it. He knew, deep down though, he would be interrogated soon enough.

The last straw was seeing library boy at the alley behind the college building feeding stray kittens. It warmed Jeno’s catmom heart. And when he looked up at Jeno and smiled and Jeno all but melted into a puddle. In retrospect, Jeno should have probably grabbed the chance and talked to him but he obviously flashed a nervous smile back and walked away as fast as his legs could carry him. 

Jeno had amazing friends. Renjun and Jisung were the only people in college he felt he could trust and not just because they had all been friends since grade school, but also because they were all so in sync with each other they didn’t need words to communicate. Jeno didn’t have to put up a show around them. They’d been together through thick and thin and Jeno loved them. Mostly. Not right now, not when they barged into his house at six thirty with the intent of a sleepover and Renjun all but bunching his collar in his hands and screaming  
“Stop bullshitting everyone and tell us what is going on!”  
He knew he couldn’t avoid them.  
“FINE. FINE. So you know that guy I told you about who wears the same three shirts - Jisung I saw that look - yeah so I saw him in the library and he’s kinda cute and I keep running into him everywhere.”  
Jeno knew he shouldn’t have told them. Renjun’s growing smirk made Jeno feel unsettled. And he had good reason to be. They both made it a point, to Jeno’s increasing anxiety, to and all and sundry about the boy. He was curious to know too, but he’d rather get shot than admit it. He did have a reputation to maintain.

 

Day 1 of the college fest and Jeno already felt like jumping off a cliff.   
Renjun had forced them both to sign up for the Decor and Merch team and all of Jeno’s free time had been taken up by painting intricate sets and tapestries.That also meant long nights at the library trying to cram whatever information he could before dozing off and, unfortunately, not enough time to keep up with library boy’s schedule and stare at him. Lunch was the only time he got to see him and even then the boy gobbled his food and ran away within five minutes.

Jisung was approaching with a maniacal grin and it took a lot to not run away in fear. He was dragging a lilac haired boy, Chenle, if Jeno remembered correctly, who looked liked he would do anything to not be here right now. Jeno knew why he came though, rumour had it he could never say no to Jisung.  
“Jeno, Chenle. Chenle, Jeno” Jisung announced’ “He knows library boy.Chenle, tell him.”  
“Minmin, his name is Minmin.He’s in the security team. ” Funny, he didn’t look like one.  
“Wait is it actually Minmin? Like his actual name?” Chenle nodded. He could see Jisung’s grin growing. This was never a good thing 

Jeno was aimlessly wandering around campus. It would get extremely crowded later but you could see a few students hurriedly putting barricades here and there and going over their duties one last time. It was at times like these that Jeno could really see their college well, without hordes of people running in different directions, spilling their morning coffee, in an attempt to reach class on time. Jeno had no right to get annoyed. He was one of them.  
But now, it was eerily quiet and he allowed himself a moment of rest, sitting down in the corridor leaning against one of the stone pillars that formed arches washed down by the rain. The stone towers looked beautiful in the light of the rising sun and he felt the all-nighter catching up to him. He couldn’t fall asleep, not then. Maybe the rooftop would be better? All his plans fell, through, however, when he saw library boy, no, Minmin next to the stairwell next to the cafeteria. Chenle had warned him that he was in the security team but nothing could prepare Jeno for how good he looked in their signature black t-shirt with a wolf logo. The cafeteria would be better anyway, his coffee would cool faster.

The aftermath of the fest saw him falling back into his old routine. Except, he could finally say how cute Minmin looked at lunch out loud to his friends.He made sure to go all out, to make up for the incessant teasing (“Oh my god Jeno, your crush’s name is Minmin”). Jisung and Renjun were, frankly speaking, tired of this.  
“Why don’t you say hi?”  
“I want to,”  
“Then just talk to him”  
“Without looking like a creep?”  
“That’s how interactions work, dumbass! Just say hi”  
“What if I hate him? What if he’s actually mean? Jisung, what if he likes Twilight?”  
They all knew it wasn’t about Twilight. As much as Jeno disliked the series, this was about him not having the confidence to approach someone he was interested in for the first time in so long. 

 

He constructed an entire hypothetical scenario where he eventually gets over Minmin if he stares long enough to get bored and will his crush away. But of course whatever entity up there couldn’t let him live in this hypothetical scenario of his. Bad luck came in the form of Jisung at lunch one day. Renjun and Jeno were calmly sitting near the volleyball court and for once it came as a complete surprise that Minmin was right in front of them.   
But then Jisung came barging in with a “YO, WHERE’S YOUR MINMIN TODAY??”  
Jeno’s face was flaming red. Jisung was a dead man.   
Jeno couldn’t bring himself to look at Minmin. Renjun was pathetically trying to get Jisung to shut up somewhere but Jeno couldn’t be bothered. This had to be karma for stealing Renjun’s candy the other day. All he could do was pretend nothing ever happened. He desperately clutched at a tiny shred of hope that Minmin hadn’t heard anything. 

Jeno was sitting on a ledge near the arches stroking one of the cats that frequented that area. She purred contentedly and sat in Jeno’s lap.It had been three weeks since The Incident and Jeno had pretty much swallowed both his embarrassment and pride. He felt Renjun sit beside him. “Oh hey Jun, did you bring the cat food? Jun?”   
That was definitely not Renjun. Minmin’s face was extremely close when Jeno looked up. Jeno’s face was burning. He looked breathtaking like this, and Jeno was almost swept off his feet when he smiled. He could only stare in amazement as the boy in front of him - he was finally wearing a different shirt god bless - smiled once again, and said in a soft voice, “Hi, my name is Jeno.” Jeno nodded eagerly and wait-  
Minmin looked stunned as realization washed over him. “I mean Jaemin.” (He was right, he wasn’t a Minmin after all) Jeno laughs. Maybe he’s not the only one embarrassing himself in front of his crush.   
“Let’s start this again, shall we? I’m Lee Jeno.”   
Jaemin’s laughing too.   
“Nice to meet you, Lee Jeno. I’m Na Jaemin. Would you like to go on a date with me?”


End file.
